What is The Last Movie You Watched?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Prospero

"12 Years A Slave'.... phew, an emotional tour de force. Women in the film business were weeping at the screening I attended last night. This is almost unrelenting in its grimness, in its presentation of a story that takes us to the very heart of the inhumanity that was the slave trade. Some scenes are almost unwatchable. It is a terrific antidote to Tarantino's crass "Django Unchained" film on the slave trade from last year which presented it as a mass entertainment shoot-em-up film. (It did have its moments - but only as a cartoon). This film is NOT entertainment. Chiwetal Ejiofor might well win an Oscar for his portrayal of the central character in this true story, but that is beside the point really. So might Steve mcQueen the director. It's focus is unrelenting. His directing awesome in creating a mood of intense oppression. (The river journey into slavery is haunting and clever in its use of thrashing paddles and noise to evoke the journey from freedom to enslavement). And one scene captures perfectly just how cowed and terrified slaves were. The main figure, Soloman Northrup, faces a near lynching. He is left dangling in a sunny glade near the plantation house his feet scarcely touching the muddy ground and keeping him from death. The afternoon passes as he dangles almost choking, his face a rictus of agony. In a single long long shot McQueen shows us the other slaves coming and going, children playing, but no one daring go to him and help.

In some ways the film echoes some of the issues that Primo Levi dealt with in "The Drowned and the Saved" - his last book about the Holocaust. In another scene the central character is forced to whip someone. He does it eventually after some resistance. Not to save his own life but because of pressure to protect others. The film is unflinching at looking at the compromises and cowardices that are forced upon the wretched at the hands of their oppressors - forcing complicity from those who are powerless. But at a terrible loss to the sense of self of those who do survive.

The viewer's salvation from despair is to remember that, in the West at least, this is now history - even if the complex legacy remains a festering sore at the heart of our culture. But it is also a reminder that inhumanity and cruelty are at the heart of human affairs. Not entertaining - but a film of majesty and demythologising power.

---

As I say, I'm apprehensive of both the subject matter and the apparently unflinching treatment, but McQueen's other films, Hunger and Shame, have both been outstanding in their utter honesty and have also featured the finest performances of Michael Fassbaender, who is rapidly becoming an unmissable screen presence.

And he is remarkable in this film also.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Prospero

[B]This film is NOT entertainment. Chiwetal Ejiofor might well win an Oscar for his portrayal of the central character in this true story, but that is beside the point really. So might Steve mcQueen the director.

---

they both won't. if they were american, they'd already have won 13 BET awards and 2 oscars each. they're best chance now is to win a BAFTA then shilling hard

Last film I saw was Last Vegas.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. The entire cast was great but Kevin Kline was superb

Just watched The World's End with Nick Frost and Simon Pegg.

Was all going great until that blokes head fell off in the bogs and blue stuff oozed out all over the place.

10 more mins and I switch off... pants!

Yet 'PAUL' was so fucking good!!!

3 tits? Yeah man!

"Hannah Arendt" - as a glutton for punishment i watched yet another film about a depressing subject. This is a partial biopic about the German born Jewish philosopher and writer who attained fame and infamy with her controversial magazine feature, then book, on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, "Eichmann In Jerusalem." What upset huge numbers of people and many of her friends was Arendt's attempt to understand the nature of the evil committed by Eichmann in the Final Solution and the complicity of some Jewish community leaders in the programme. She of course coined the phrase 'the banality of evil.' The trouble is this film by Margarethe von Trotta is stilted, dry and rather dull.

HANNAH ARENDT by Margarethe von Trotta - Trailer (HQ) - YouTube

I can't say I have been impressed by von Trotta's films, her need to preach makes her films too stilted, like essays. Also not sure why Arendt merits this treatment -there are a lot of people like this whose work/lives have been interesting who do not benefit from being the subjects of a feature film (Walter Benjamin? Paul Celan?) -there could be material for a tv documentary but why go to the expense of hiring all those actors to pretend to be Hannah, Martin Heidegger etc? Eichmann in Jerusalem is a fascinating book, and her study On Revolution is interesting but doesn't explore the phenomenon with the comparative analysis you can find in many other works, and the essays collected in Men in Dark Times are also interesting but in reality high class journalism rather than political theory or social philosophy. Fact is she was not a major thinker -a case of special pleading here I think, something von Trotta tried with Rosa Luxemburg. I haven't seen the film and the clip doesn't inspire me to. As far as German women directors are concerned, it is a pity Helma Sanders-Brahms has not reached a wider audience though her films may be even bleaker than the one reviewed here.

http://images.static-bluray.com/movi...9865_large.jpg

Well Stavros - as i said - the film is not good so don't bother.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Prospero

Well Stavros - as i said - the film is not good so don't bother.

---

Never mind chaps. Borgen is back on BBC4! :)

“The Book Thief”. A hugely emotionally manipulative film set Nazi Germany just before and during World War Two. It’s about the survival of a young girl. Wonderful performance by young French-Canadian actress Sophie Nelisse as the main character Lisel Meminger. But this is a very flawed film and the voiceover by Death (Roger Allam)is a ludicrous device. I understand the book by Markus Zusak on which it is based is even worse.

The Book Thief Official Trailer #1 (2013) - Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson Movie HD - YouTube

thor-dark world. i thought it was rather so-so ordinary. nothing to write home about.

"The Butler"... phew, well this confection is a massive distortion of history to find a device to tell the story of the journey from the continuing injustice of black existence in the 1920s to the arrival of the USA's first black president.(a journey of developing civil rights and growing equaiity that is far from over) You have to applaud the core sentiment of this film but it offers a sentimentalized story which takes such huge liberties with the real story - a fictionaized account of a story based on a real life figure, Eugene Allen the black man who was the Butler to US presidents from Eisenhower to Reagan. It is full of cartoons and simplifications and ludicrous moments of historical coincidence. But it does have terrific acting by Forest Whitaker as Allen (re-named Cecil Gaines for the film) and not least by a true symbol of deepening Black success in USA, the most successful and high profile African American woman today (barring i guess Michelle Obama) Oprah Winfrey as the eponymous Butler's wife. The film is enjoyable but its schmalz and distortions disqualify it from being anything other than a well produced and glittering piece of Hollywood entertainment.

THE BUTLER Movie Trailer (2013) - YouTube

Cable TV-"The Long Kiss Goodnight"
In a theater- "The Nightmare Before Christmas-3D" (not my idea)

Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron, 2013)
In 3D.
Takes crisis management to new heights; a technically superb film to watch, Sandra Bullock always worth watching too; but it seems a film about an event or a situation, rather than a story. The Earth always looks good from up above anyway. Lots of real science and fake science mixed in -the space shuttles travel at around 17,500 miles per hour, but not in this film. At one point we are clearly over Egypt travelling East to West yet Kowalski moments later can see the Ganges. Small things like will irritate nerds, but otherwise this is a short but stimulating visit to the cinema. There are also a lot of small jokes/references in the film -Kowalski being but one...

Gravity - Official Main Trailer [2K HD] - YouTube

I liked Gravity a lot despite the fact there wasn't too much story because it re-enacted situations I couldn't have imagined myself. Someone I know asked me what was the difference between this and Castaway, except that this was a survival story based in space rather than an island. Being left floating through space leaves much more to the imagination and so it was enjoyable even if you're not a fan of movies that rely heavily on special effects.

I'm waiting for Cuarón's next film...


Alfonso Cuarón's "IKEA" - Official Trailer - YouTube

I like that girl, she has a cute ass. All she needs to do is ask a store assistant and she will be fine. I once worked in Wickes for a a couple of days and there was a French junior manager similar to this girl. I checked Cuaron on IMDb this is some odd kind of spoof but I liked it.

I did enjoy Gravity, it just didn't overwhelm me.

Trailer Park Boys Xmas Special

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Tr...h-autocomplete

Good for a few laughs.

I made the mistake of watching two films on Film4 last night:
The American (Corbijn 2010).
If you are a hired assassin and need to lay low, where do you go? A large city where you can be anonymous, or a small Italian town where you are the only American and within an hour everyone knows who you are? Yep, the small Italian town. And make sure your licence plates are also from another town in case anyone asks Have you seen a car with Pescara licence plates? The usual cliches also apply: attractive but world-weary assassin on his last job, not given to much talking but always well dressed, works well assembling guns, has 'profound' conversations with the town Priest who, of course speaks English -which in most Italian towns is unlikely. At one point he wonders if he is being followed yet sits in the window of a cafe at night...near the end he walks through this town with a gun in his hand in broad daylight. Etc etc.

Unfaithful (Adrian Lyne 2002)
Sort of like Fatal Attraction but the one where the woman does the cheating on her husband. Why is not made clear, other than raw lust I suppose. Big plot hole here is that she takes her French lover a special gift from her husband which he finds in the apartment; they might have gotten away with murder, it isn't clear at the end; her fingerprints must be all over the Soho apartment, the private detective must know the man was murdered as it was in the papers, the employee who was sacked saw them snogging in a cafe, etc etc.

Two films with more holes than Swiss cheese, but less tasty; with or without this year's Beaujolais Nouveau.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by broncofan

I liked Gravity a lot despite the fact there wasn't too much story because it re-enacted situations I couldn't have imagined myself. Someone I know asked me what was the difference between this and Castaway, except that this was a survival story based in space rather than an island. Being left floating through space leaves much more to the imagination and so it was enjoyable even if you're not a fan of movies that rely heavily on special effects.

---

Gravity reminded me of why you go to the cinema - willing suspension of disbelief, terrific visuals, excellent soundtrack and an outstanding performance by Sandra Bullock, but most of all the sheer enjoyment of the visceral cinematic experience without intellectually deconstructing it. I think I finally exhaled properly about thirty seconds from the end.

Watching it in the civilised environment of the City Screen in York only added to the pleasure. A damn good night out.

Looking forward to Nebraska; the combination of Alexander Payne and Bruce Dern is intriguing to say the least.

Oldies on DVD... "Paper Moon" with Ryan and Tatum O"Neal. Delightful. And "Jane Eyre" from two years back. Beautifully shot but a little sterile.

Prisoners. what a great movie! just a tad bit long in my opinion

"Stand Up Guys", by actor-director Fisher Stevens, with old guys Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alla Arkin.

After 28 years in jail, a man comes out with still a life debt to repay a ruthless gang leader, having kept only two friends as accomplices, an old amateur artist and a man crippled with disease in an old age home.

I was affraid this could be a Gold Age reunion type of movie. Although Pacino and Walken are indeed not anymore in their prime, it rather comes out as a magnificent acting dual between the two. It's not a great movie, but it serves its purpose in being funny, entertaining and filled with surprised. It doesn't either follow to the line the stencil script for such an old gangster type of movie. It rather serves a bit of bluesy nostalgia with a touch of spice. Both Pacino and Walken are magnificent in what might be a last important, leading role for each. And all of that wrapped in an excellent musical score of essentially soul music.

I liked this one a lot.

Just saw a Good Year with Russell Crowe, directed by Ridley Scott. I didn't like it very much. All of the finance scenes were very cliche and annoying; in fact the movie fell back on lots of pointless cliches.

I also saw Predator. There wasn't much of a story there, but I liked it because there were good action sequences and the predator itself was a pretty cool creature. It's not important but I don't really understand why it was so bent on poaching humans, as though the sole mission of this extra-terrestrial is to kill us for no reason, but again it's not important.

"Gloria" a very slo wChilean film. Hmmmm.... a little dull really

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by broncofan

Just saw a Good Year with Russell Crowe, directed by Ridley Scott. I didn't like it very much. All of the finance scenes were very cliche and annoying; in fact the movie fell back on lots of pointless cliches.

I also saw Predator. There wasn't much of a story there, but I liked it because there were good action sequences and the predator itself was a pretty cool creature. It's not important but I don't really understand why it was so bent on poaching humans, as though the sole mission of this extra-terrestrial is to kill us for no reason, but again it's not important.

---

I think the predator is a hunter, that hunts humans for simple sport, like we hunt deers. I liked it too. Full of action. Not very subtle for the least, but efficient in his range. Fun! With a Governator at his height. They made a few more after. I only saw the second one, not as good at all but still fair and fun.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Prospero

"Gloria" a very slo wChilean film. Hmmmm.... a little dull really

---

Hoping to see Nebraska next week. Have you seen it yet?

Just saw with my poor gf, victim of the circumstances, a huge elephant. I could characterize it better by saying it's the thickest sugar spreaded toast I've had in a good while. "Olympus has fallen" is the title. A group of terrorists attack the White House and take the president hostage inside the underground protected bunker. Only a former, more or less disgraced FBI agent, who mannaged to introduced himself inside the place, can take the group apart and save the day. I'm sure you can't possibly guess the end to this one.
It's an attempt at resurrecting the tension of the first "Die Hard" film, which it doesn't match in any possible way.
Militaristic, devoid of any kind of realism or credibility, it is a giganstic, multimillion dollars symphony of fireshots and explosions, in which the body count is innumerable -frankly, I'm not even sure "Saving Private Ryan" shows as many deaths; maybe not even "The Day of the Living Deads"... Obviously financed by the extreme conservative right, it appeals to the most common denominators in what we could only call "intelligence" by a hyperbole, a licence I won't allow myself here.
It does have a certain entertaining value. The cast is impressive, the budget collosal, the special effects spectacular. But the result is dreadful. For young teenagers or intellectual indigents.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--a6YeiE41g...-Poster-UK.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by broncofan

I also saw Predator. There wasn't much of a story there, but I liked it because there were good action sequences and the predator itself was a pretty cool creature. It's not important but I don't really understand why it was so bent on poaching humans, as though the sole mission of this extra-terrestrial is to kill us for no reason, but again it's not important.

---

i love this movie. it's the ultimate man movie. and i don't mind the idea of an extraterrestrial who's sole purpose is to hunt us. i think of it kind of like animals in the wild (except this one has self awareness) and thus seeks the ultimate pray that also has self awareness so it can become a better.... predator

besides, how epic is that handshake?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItzslynRhwg

Haha, there were a couple of scenes in there where I was sure Arnold's character posed just so in order to show how much work he has put in in the gym. It was a fun movie, a man movie..got me into the gym for the first time in month afterwards;.

I'm going to try to see the Coen Brother's Inside Llewyn Davis in the next week and let y'all know how it goes. It might just be that I'm not the right audience since I know nothing about folk music or the early folk scene, its characters, and their cultural significance.

Olympus has fallen was pretty lame but I also watched "the graveyard shift" which was a lot better than I thought I'd be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Falling

Olympus has fallen was pretty lame but I also watched "the graveyard shift" which was a lot better than I thought I'd be.

---

The horror flick of 1990, Falling, or have they recently remade it?
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...8KCQU6pgYSQVug
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/2/Ope...=allmovie_soap
http://www.horrordvds.com/reviews/a-...gds_shot1l.jpg

The Onion Movie:

The Onion Movie Soundtrack 2008 - Melissa Cherry: Down On My Knees - YouTube


The Onion Movie Soundtrack 2008 - Melissa Cherry: Take Me From Behind - YouTube

A delightful French comedy on BBC4 last night called Romantics Anonymous (Emotifs Anonymes). Just 75 minutes long, gently played by two social misfits who find love. Recommended.

the hell with the reviews. i actually liked Spike Lee's "Oldboy " (starring Josh Brolin) i liked it even more than i did the old Korean version.

Before that i saw " Best Man Holiday" (which i loved! ) and Forrest Whitaker's " Black Nativity" which i thought was average/decent.

Going to see Nebraska with Bruce Dern tonight. Anybody seen it already?

"Killing them softly", by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, Ray Liotta, James Gandolfini. First, despite my dislike of silly 115 pounds women beating in so many films nowadays, 6 feet tall and over, big, 250 pounds bad guys, I must say this one is an absolutely terribly womanless movie, desperately womanless; it's a femininity desert, which already in itself, makes a terrible one out of it.
It's the story -if you absolutely want to call it that- of a gangster who's trying to solve the problem of hold ups at a gambling house. The perspective is a forced attempt at realism, with a really slow rythm, characters more credible than usual for this type of film, and an atmosphere that's designed, in all likelyhood, to capture the banality of the activities of such milieu. Well, it certainly succeed in tranlating banality. It's long, boring, it doesn't seem to have any point and it ends on a lovely extreme right type of speech. Nothing of the entertainment value such films often offers, and nothing on a deeper intellectual or psychological levels to compensate this shortcomming. You want to watch this one, drink a lot before and save some booze for the duration...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8hWpKFubrw...m-softly-3.jpg

Killing Them Softly - Official Trailer (HD) - YouTube

I went and seen Hunger Games today and I hated the ending. I know they are setting up for the next one but it was so abrupt............. Overall nice movie though. I want to go see THE BUTLER next.

Went this Saturday to watch The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) - IMDb

To be honest I was not very impressed.